BUFFALO -- It was Miller time at the HSBC Arena last night, but will there be enough time for his Buffalo Sabres?

Boosted by the return of all-star goaltender Ryan Miller, the Sabres gave their slender playoff hopes a boost with a 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs in front of a crowd of 18,620 heavy with Toronto supporters.

With the victory, the Sabres moved to within five points of the idle Montreal Canadiens for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and could make things interesting with a win in La Belle Province tonight.

While Miller shone early in his return from a 13-game absence because of an ankle injury, the same could not be said of his counterpart Curtis Joseph.

Just 72 hours after being the hero in a shootout win against the Washington Capitals, Joseph put his team in a crater from the outset.

The 41-year-old allowed goals on his first and fourth shots and when four pucks beat him by the ninth shot, Leafs coach Ron Wilson gave him the hook.

"Two of them were bad, leave it at that," Wilson said. "Four goals on nine shots. We need to be better."

There was no argument from Joseph, who was replaced by rookie Justin Pogge, who was called up from the Marlies yesterday.

"The highs and lows of the NHL," Joseph said. "I wanted to make a difference in a winning fashion."

Sabres forward Jochen Hecht opened the scoring just 37 seconds into the game, forcing a puck past Joseph from the side of the net.

Tim Connolly, with his first of two at the 9:39 mark, rang the puck off the post so hard it rebounded off Joseph's butt and back into the net. When Daniel Paille and Connolly scored 21 seconds apart early in the second, it was curtains for Cujo.

At the other end, Miller was sharp in the first period but allowed the Leafs a glimmer of hope when Boyd Devereaux scored a short-handed goal at 16:36 of the second.

After Matt Stajan scored 7:47 into the third to make it 4-2, suddenly Miller and the Sabres were in a game.

"(The Leafs) started to smell blood," Miller said. "Fortunately we held them off."

Not before the Leafs made it 4-3 on Nik Kulemin's goal just 43 seconds later. But Paul Gaustad gave the Sabres some insurance at 10:56, the only shot of 15 to beat Pogge.

The Leafs return home tonight to face Boston with only a mathematical shot at the post-season. With 75 points, Toronto is 10 behind Montreal with just seven games left but also trails Buffalo (80) and Florida (83).